Hello world,

 I will be running the Barcelona Marathon on the 25th of March 2012 in aid of Anti-Slavery International. That piles on a heap of pressure, which I’m hoping can only be a good thing.

 I often feel insignificant as an individual, particularly with the bigger things that seem to matter. We live in an age where machines, corporations and states erode our power as individuals. Now that isn't always a bad thing and some would say a natural evolution of human development. But there are many negative consequences, one of which sees the exploitation of the most vulnerable in our societies. My feeling of insignificance is nothing compared to the treatment they have to endure, some traded like commodities in what can only be described as modern day slavery.

 After watching a documentary almost a year ago now on human trafficking, I was trying to paint a picture in my mind of how people must feel when put in that situation. The sheer attempt shook my foundations. I take many things for granted. My identity. My safety. My family. My passport and the protection it gives me. The knowledge that there are authorities out there who I can go to and who will serve justice [some perhaps not so well as others]. But what if all those things were taken away from me, rendering me helpless and enslaved to my captors? I am somebody’s son, somebody’s sibling and somebody’s friend. How must they feel?

 Whilst my own account is overly-simplified and parochially normative, according to the International Labour Organisation there are over 12 million people that are enslaved today. Victims of slavery are some of the most poverty-stricken and marginalised in the world. Many of them are children, who are deprived of educational opportunity and locked into a cycle of abuse and discrimination from which it is nearly impossible to escape without help. Contemporary forms of slavery include:

 • Human trafficking: involves the recruitment and transport of people from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into work, prostitution, or other illicit activities

 • Child slavery: including forced begging and domestic work, where children are kept from school and instead forced to work long hours for little or no pay

 • Forced labour: affecting people illegally recruited and forced to work under the threat of violence or other penalties

 • Debt bondage: where people take, or are tricked into taking, a loan for as little as the cost of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt many are forced to work long hours, seven days a week, for up to 365 days a year.

 • Descent-based slavery: where people are either born into a ‘slave class’ or are from a group that society views as suited for slave labour

 So by running this marathon, I am not only hoping to reach a personal milestone, I am also raising awareness and fundraising to tackle some of these inhumane practices. Anti-Slavery International, having been founded in 1839, are the world’s oldest human rights organisation and are committed to the global elimination of all forms of slavery.

 I hope all those who read this post are also committed and will pledge to help me reach my target

Best Regards

Mo